The Morning After: Tuesday, September 26th 2017

Microsoft puts the focus back on gaming with Xbox One 'Invitation' ad

Sony exploited the nostalgia of the PlayStation brand a few days ago and now it's Microsoft's turn to slosh some ad money around. The latest clip to be released on the official Xbox YouTube channel is simply called "Invitation," and it might be best be summed up as the exact opposite of the original Xbox One launch event. Instead of emphasizing Kinect, HDMI in/out and TV overlay features, what's being sold here is straight-up gaming immersion, with titles like Titanfall and Fifa 14 dominating the first part of the clip, leaving just a few seconds of screen time for movies, Skype and voice commands. This focus tallies with Microsoft's wider effort to re-jig its image among gamers, but it probably also has a lot to do with geography: this looks like a global advertisement and some parts of the world may not benefit so heavily from Microsoft's US-centric TV and content deals.